Dental towel



Jan. 13, 1970 s. A. STEMMER 3,488,773

DENTAL TOWEL Filed June 6, 1968 INVENTOR SALLY ASTEMMER United States Patent 3,488,773 DENTAL TOWEL Sally A. Stemmer, 28610 Lathrup Ave., Lathrup Village, Mich. 48075 Filed June 6, 1968, Ser. No. 735,100 Int. Cl. A4111 13/04 US. Cl. 249 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A dental towel comprising a multi-layer paper section backed by a plastic sheet to form a rectangular panel. A pressure-sensitive adhesive, which provides an attachment to the patients clothing, is disposed on three corners of the plastic back and permits the towel to be disposed over the chest of a child to form a shield by pressing the two corners adjacent the ends of one of the short sides of the panel to his shoulders, over the chest of an adult by pressing two corners adjacent the ends of the long side of the panel to his shoulders, or in other handy positions for the dentist or his nurse by pressing one or more corners anywhere on the patients clothing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to a dental towel intended to be worn while various operations are performed in the mouth of the wearer to prevent water and other substances from coming into contact with the wearers clothing.

Description of the prior art It is conventional practice for a dentist to provide a towel of cloth, paper or other sheet material which is worn by his patient while various dental operations are performed in the mouth of the patient. Usually such operations involve water or other liquids which tend to splash so that the towel acts in the manner of a bib to shield the patients clothes. Conventional towels or bibs for this purpose are formed with a pair of narrowed sections along one side which are loosely tied around the neck of the patient to maintain the towel in position. They frequently employ buttons, snaps or other fastener means for connecting the ends of the narrowed sections.

It has been suggested that dental towels be manufactured in disposable form of an inexpensive material such as paper. One such bib is disclosed in US. Patent No. 2,424,680. The bib disclosed in this patent is also of conventional structure with a recess along one side adapted to fit the patients throat and a pair of tongues with an adhesive on their free ends which are joined together around the patients neck. One characteristic of conventional dental towels is that a towel which is of a suitable size for a child is too small for an adult. On the other hand, a towel that is large enough for an adult does not properly fit a child.

SUMMARY The broad purpose of the present invention is to provide a dental towel that can be quickly attached and detached from the patient to shield his clothes and which at the same' time is handy for the dentist or his nurse as a protective bib. One characteristic of the preferred embodiment of the invention is that it does not 'have a specially formed collar along any of its sides for fitting the neck of the wearer. It can be attached in one position on a child, in another position on an adult, or anywhere on the patie'nts clothing that is handy.

The preferred embodiment, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, comprises a rectangular panel having a front side formed of a multi-layer section of Water absorbent paper and a back side formed of a plastic sheet which is joined to the front side about its marginal edges. A pressure-sensitive adhesive material is disposed on three of the four corners on the back side of the panel. When the towel is being stored, prior to use as a bib, a small paper strip covers each of the adhesive areas.

In use, the towel is attached to the wearer by separating the paper strips from selected corners to expose the adhesive material. When the towel is to be attached to a child or person of relatively small physical proportions, the two back corners on the ends of one of the short sides are pressed to the clothing of the patient so that the body of the panel covers his clothes. When used in this manner, the third corner may be attached to the waist of the patient.

When the towel is to be attached to the clothes of an adult or person of relatively large proportions, the towel is pressed on the longer side to the shoulders of the patient.

The advantages of this convertibility allows the same towel to be employed for either adults or children. By making the towel substantially of uniform thickness and rectangular dimensions, it can be inexpensively manufactured. By employing a pressure-sensitive adhesive as the means for attachment to the patient as opposed to conventional arrangements where portions of the towel are tied around the neck of the wearer or extra clips are needed, the preferred towel can be easily attached to the patient in any position on his clothing, as well as quickly detached after the dental operation has been completed. The provision of water absorbent means on the front side of the panel helps to absorb liquids that are splashed during the dental operation with the plastic backing providing an impervious shield for the patients clothes.

Other advantages of the present invention will readily occur to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains upon reference to the following detailed description.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The description refers to the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views in which:

FIGURE 1 illustrates a dental towel embodying the invention attached to the clothes of a child;

FIGURE 2 is a view showing the preferred dental towel in its alternative position attached to the clothes of an adult; and

FIGURE 3 is a view of the back side of the preferred towel with one corner of the sheets forming the panel folded back to show their multi-layer construction.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, FIGURE 3 illustrates the H preferred dental towel at 10 as comprising a flexible panel 12 having a rectangular border. The panel 12 has a back side formed of a water impervious, preferably plastic sheet 14 joined along its marginal edges to three water absorbent paper sheets 16 that front the panel so that it has substantially a uniform thickness within its borders. The panel 12 preferably has a length of about 18 /2 inches and a width of about 13 /2 inches.

A pressure-sensitive adhesive material is disposed on the back side of the panel 12 adjacent three corner sectionsk18, 20 and 22. The corner sections 18 and 20 are connected by one of the long sides of the panel, and the corner sections 20 and 22 are connected by one of the short sides of the panel. A protective strip 24 of paper or other suitable material covers each of the adhesive areas when the towel is stored prior to use.

In use, as shown in FIGURE 1, the panel 12 is draped over the chest of a child 26 or patient of relatively small physical proportions, with a plastic sheet 14 covering his clothes and the corner sections 20 and 22 pressed against his clothing in the vicinity'of his shoulders so that the short side connecting these corner sections is horizontally disposed below his chin.

In this arrangement, the body of the panel 12 is disposed over the front of the child 26 to form a shield for his clothes as well as being conveniently handy for the dentist or the nurse. The cover 24 can also be removed from the adhesive area 18 so that the lower corner of the panel 12 can be attached to the waist of the child 26.

FIGURE 2 shows the panel 12 in another position employed as a protective shield for an adult 28 or person of relatively large physical size. In this arrangement, the adhesive on the corner sections 18 and 20 is exposed by removal of the covers 24 and the corners attached to the shoulders of the adult 28 with the remainder of .the panel forming a protective shield for his clothes. In either arrangement, the water absorbent paper on the outer side of the panel 12 provides means for the wearer to wipe or dry his month during the course of the dental operation and the plastic sheet 14 provides means for protecting his clothes from any splashed liquids.

Thus it is to be understood that I have described a dental towel that can be quickly and easily attached to or detached from the clothes of a wearer to provide a shield for the clothes during a dental operation, as well as providing means for the wearer to wipe or dry his face. The preferred towel has a configuration which'allows it to be used in a variety of positions, depending on the physical size of the wearer and the convenience of the dentist or his nurse. In addition to providing a manufacturing economy, this rectangular configuration obviates the necessity for the dentist having to store different size towels for patients of different physical sizes.

Although I have described but one embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that various changes and revisions can be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention as expressed in the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A dental towel comprising a flexible panel having a front side and a back side bordered by a pair of spaced, generally parallel, long sides connected by a pair of spaced, generally parallel, short sides defining four corner sections, said panel having a substantially uniform thickness between said long sides and said short sides, water absorbent means on it front side and water impervious means on its back side, and an area of pressure-sensitive adhesive material disposed on the back side of the panel on at least three of said corner sections, said adhesive material being suitable for joinder to and removal from the clothes of the wearer so that the towel can be disposed over the chest of a relatively small wearer by pressing two corner sections of the back side of the panel at the ends of one of its short sides to his shoulders, or over the chest of a relatively large wearer by pressing two corner sections on the back side at the ends of a long side to his shoulders to form a shield for his clothes.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein said panel is formed of a multi-layer water absorbent paper section having a rectangular border, and an impervious plastic sheet, rectangular in shape, joined about its marginal edges to the border of the paper section.

3. The invention as defined in claim 2, including a protective strip covering each area of adhesive material on the corner sections, each strip being separable from its area to expose the adhesive material for joinder to the clothes of the wearer.

4. The invention as defined in claim 1, in which the panel has a rectangular border defined by a pair of long sides of about 18 /2 inches in length and a pair of short sides of about 13 /2 inches in length.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,592,283 7/1926- McKenzie 2-49 2,009,831 7/ 1935 Yerzley. 2,250,887 7/1941 BrOWn 2-49 2,760,200 8/ 6 Shamyer 249 2,902,734 9/ 1959 Walters. 3,290,440 1/ 1967 Grable 2.-49

ALFRED R. GUEST, Primary Examiner 

